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"I trust it will not be giving away professional secrets to say that many readers would be surprised, perhaps shocked, at the questions which some newspaper editors will put to a defenseless woman under the guise of flattery."

11/19/2014

Mark Bois, author of Lieutenant and Mrs. Lockwood, was invited to participate in a book signing at DiStasi Banquet Center on November 16 with four other Cincinnati-area authors. While sidearms are usually optional at such events, the replica of the British Infantry Officer's sword made a nice addition to the book display.

At the turn of the last century the fleet had grown to its enormous size because it had the whole world to police, and because of Britain’s policy to maintain a navy larger than those of any other two nations put together. But the policy had a weakness. It put too much emphasis on sheer numbers, and too little on fighting power. It tended to keep ships in commission long after they were economical. In addition, the huge fleet had been built at a time when technical skill, in ship design, machinery, propulsion and armament, was advancing rapidly. The introduction of new inventions had proceeded at such a pace that it had been possible for a ship to be outdated before it was launched. Within a year of the review another greater problem arose. Germany, who had no tradition of power at sea, decided to disregard the past and build a modern and more effective fleet. This could only be intended for one purpose: to challenge British seapower.

It was essential that the Royal Navy found someone who understood these weaknesses and potential problems. Fortunately, history has been good at producing the right man at the right moment. It did so now. He was Admiral Sir John Arbuthnot Fisher. Already in his sixties he was a pugnacious, stocky little man, known throughout the Fleet as “Jacky”. The Navy had been his whole life since the time he had joined at age 13 and, as a midshipman, served in the Crimean War. To him, inefficiency in naval affairs was akin to sacrilege and he had a reputation for weeding it out ...

11/05/2014

Fireship Press is pleased to announce book 2 of the Emperor's American series, March to Destruction. According to Mark Schneider, a historian at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation who has portrayed Napoleon Bonaparte on the History Channel, Art McGrath's latest novel "has the makings of a classic to be placed alongside Arthur Conan Doyle's The Adventures of Gerard and David Johnson's The Proud Canaries."

Pierre Burns may have been born in Maryland and served on ships, but in 1805 he is part of the most famous ground force in history: Napoleon's Grande Armée. Under the inspiring leadership of Marshal Ney and General Savary, Burns serves first as a spy and messenger, then as a soldier in a campaign that pits the innovative Grande Armée, led by a military genius, against an Austrian army that enjoys every advantage of terrain as well as overwhelming numbers. Pierre has more to worry about than the heavy odds he and his compatriots face. As a man with a price on his head he has to watch every shadow for the next assassin, for he has powerful enemies whose influence extends to royal courts as well as dark alleys. But it is the crucible of battle that will ultimately test Pierre in ways he never foresaw, and that will change him forever.

10/20/2014

What would have happened to Gavroche of Les Miserables if he hadn't died young? In an article for Reading the Past, Fireship author Marina Julia Neary speculates on what a grown version of the Victorian child hero might look like.

"When I started writing the first draft of what became Wynfield's Kingdom at the age of fifteen, I did not realize I was trying to create a Neo-Victorian child hero or resurrect an archetype that was so prominent in 19th-century literature. That term was not familiar to me at the time I read a lot of literature but not a lot of literary criticism. I just knew what type of character I gravitated towards, and it was never the romantic brooding leading man. It was the spunky, street-smart, barricade-climbing child who navigates between social classes without belonging to either one of them and yet sympathizing with everyone, even his enemies."

10/14/2014

Melody Groves has written a short but highly complimentary review of Marksman's Trinity for the October 2014 edition of Roundup Magazine.

"Marksman's Trinity does a terrific job describing military tactics and strategies during battle. Loyd Uglow's main characters depict military life and chain of command so well that those of us with limited prior knowledge can 'get it.'"

10/07/2014

The Silas Bronson Library is hosting a book signing for Plagued by Mary Sharnick. The event, which includes a discussion of the book, will be held today from 6:30–7:45 p.m. at 267 Grand Street, Waterbury, Connecticut.

09/28/2014

The Providence Journal gave a great, thoughtful review to Harriette C. Rinaldi's Four Faces of Truth.

"Fluent in the culture and immersed in the dawn of its direst hour, Rinaldi states in her preface a need to impart Cambodia’s recent “parallels and lessons … that apply to what is happening in the world today.” Her intentions, then, are noble, her artistry subtle and deft, but with everything from drones to daisy-cutters to beheadings to mass executions to suicide bombings to chemical weapons to nuclear bombast roiling the earth, we fear her efficacy may fall short. Heeding the past, after all, along with our scarcely veiled, ecumenical savagery, seems beyond humanity’s otherwise astonishing skill set." —Mike Freeman

"While teaching the Iliad, I kept wondering with my students how Briseis, the young captive woman who sparked the conflict between Achilles and Agamemnon, could possibly have loved Achilles—which is what Homer shows us. The half-immortal Greek killed her husband and brothers, destroyed her city and turned her from princess to slave—hardly a heartwarming courtship."—Judith Starkson

"I’m drawn to what the primary sources don’t say. Most authors depict the Saxons as brutes and treat war captives as booty. Historical fiction is a way to fill in the gaps and restore humanity to these people." —Kim Rendfeld